Start living more sustainably. The Good Dirt podcast explores all aspects of a sustainable lifestyle with healthy soil as the touchpoint and metaphor for the he...
221. Seeds of Connection: The People Behind Pinetree Garden Seeds
In today’s episode, we’re talking to Melissa and Jaci from Pinetree Garden Seeds, a family owned and operated business since 1979. Pinetree Garden Seeds was founded with the simple mission of offering low prices on quality seeds to the home gardener. Over the years offerings have expanded to include over 1300 varieties of seeds, including many heirlooms & organics, a huge assortment of tools and gardening gear, books, and live plants. Located in rural Maine, they operate out of a 300 year old farmhouse and strive to offer the best service and products with a personal touch. In 2011, the company was passed down from its founder, Dick Meiners, to his stepdaughter Melissa. She and her family are excited to continue the mission of supporting the home gardener by offering affordable, high quality seeds and goods. In this conversation we delve into the story of Pinetree Garden Seeds, the complexities of GMO's, heirloom seeds and the practices of the company. Melissa and Jaci share their passion for helping others succeed in gardening, emphasizing the simplicity and joy of growing food that promotes the health of humans and the planet.
🌿 Podcast listeners can use the code DIRTPGS20 for 20% their seed order at superseeds.com !
Topics
Introduction to Pinetree Garden Seeds
History of the company
Seed Selection and Catalog Creation
Work environment at Pinetree
Seed Packing technology
Seed Sourcing
Gardening Practices and Trials
Understanding the Safe Seed Pledge
Understanding the types of seeds: heirloom, hybrid and GMO
The value of heirloom seeds
Seed longevity and germination
The seasonal flow and Pinetree Garden Seeds
The value of gardening in community and connection
03:20 Meet the Pine Tree Team
04:11 The History and Evolution of Pine Tree Seeds
05:53 Learning the Business of Seeds
08:47 The Art of Seed Catalogs
11:06 Gardening Experiments and Trials
17:49 Understanding Seed Types and Safety
20:31 Understanding GMO vs. Hybrid
22:15 Heirloom Seeds: Stories and Significance
25:00 Seed Longevity and Germination
28:38 A Day at Pine Tree Seeds
31:31 The Concept of Slow Living
34:29 The Good Dirt: Meaning and Metaphor
36:04 Final Thoughts and Contact Information
🌿 Podcast listeners can use the code DIRTPGS20 for 20% their seed order at superseeds.com !
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🌻 About Lady Farmer:
Subscribe to The ALMANAC, a Lady Farmer Newsletter & Community
Visit Our Website
Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram
Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!
Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.
🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:
• Wendy Gray
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43:00
220. Restoring the Land Through Regenerative Farming with Florence Reed of Sustainable Harvest International
In this episode of The Good Dirt Podcast, hosts Mary Kingsley and her daughter Emma talk with Florence Reed, founder of Sustainable Harvest International, a nonprofit that has worked with smallholder farmers in Central America for over 27 years in adopting regenerative farming practices. Florence tells the story of how Sustainable Harvest International got its start, and highlights the importance of healthy soil, biodiversity, and the role of local technical assistance in fostering long-term agricultural transformation. She points out how these practices alone applied to small farms the world over could significantly contribute to the United Nations' goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Florence tells us that there are many inspiring success stories, including one that she shares about a farmerl who restored his land and sent both of his daughters to college as a result of his farming success following the SHI program. The conversation offers a hopeful message about the potential for individual and collective action in combating climate change.
,00:00 Introduction
00:31 Welcome to the Good Dirt Podcast
00:57 Guest Introduction: Florence Reed
03:25 Florence Reed's Background and Motivation
06:04 Early Challenges and Realizations
08:05 Founding Sustainable Harvest International
11:52 Initial Steps and Early Support
14:22 Challenges of Slash and Burn Farming
20:40 Sustainable and Regenerative Practices
27:42 Community Engagement and Program Implementation
30:48 Deciding Where to Work
31:32 Challenges and Demand
32:17 Global Impact of Small-Scale Farmers
33:40 Resistance to Change in Farming Practices
39:59 Success Stories and Long-Term Impact
46:02 Personal Reflections and Slow Living
49:16 Future Plans and Getting Involved
LINKS
Sustainable Harvest International
Roots of Renewal: A Film on Farming for a Hopeful Future
Eliot Coleman: The New Organic Grower
Barbara Damrosch: The Garden Primer
The Good Life: Helen and Scot Nearing's Sixty Years of Self Sufficient Living
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🌻 About Lady Farmer:
Subscribe to The ALMANAC, a Lady Farmer Newsletter & Community
Visit Our Website
Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram
Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!
Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.
🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:
• Wendy Gray
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58:18
Slow Friday Reprise: A Slow Living Perspective on the Holidays with Mary and Emma
In celebration of the holiday this week, and upcoming "Black Friday", we're re-airing our favorite slow-living take on the matter...Slow Friday!
RE-AIR FROM 11/26/21
You're in for something a little different this Friday...it's a solo show with Mary and Emma!
At Lady Farmer, we're always thinking about ways to shift our thinking to live into a more slow and sustainable lifestyle, and today is a great opportunity to do just that. What if Black Friday became Slow Friday, and what would that look like?
Join us on this week’s episode of The Good Dirt as we share a bit about our own Christmas memories and experiences with gift-giving as well as how we're thinking about being more mindful with our consumer habits during the holiday season.
Enjoy this week's episode, let us know what you think, and we'll be back with another interview next week!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser, Simplecast, Podtail, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Topics Covered:
The negative impacts of consumerism and how to think differently about our consumer habits
The importance that we have placed on gift-giving and receiving during the holiday season
Slow Friday Challenge
Resources:
Unplug the Christmas Tree
Christmas by Peter Spier
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🌻 About Lady Farmer:
Subscribe to The ALMANAC, a Lady Farmer Newsletter & Community
Visit Our Website
Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram
Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!
Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.
🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:
• Wendy Gray
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39:58
219. Embracing Slow Style: Creating Beauty in Your Home with Zandra Zuraw
In this episode, Zandra Zuraw, founder of Slow Style Home, shares her insights on interior design. Slow Style Home is an interior design coaching platform for people looking to create a beautiful, meaningful home without breaking the bank, hiring a designer, or hurting the planet to get one. Zandra discusses her step-by-step framework, the importance of a vision for your space, and offers tips for decluttering and balancing aesthetics with functionality. Zandra also touches on the broader concept of slow living. She encourages everyone to find a personal and meaningful approach to home decoration and stresses the emotional satisfaction that comes from using and transforming what we already have. Listeners are inspired to appreciate and design their living spaces mindfully, focusing on beauty and personal expression.She's currently writing a book about her Slow Style approach to design, to be released in Spring 2025 .and is also the host of the popular podcast, Slow Style Home.
00:00 Introduction to Slow Style Home
01:23 Zandra Zuraw's Personal Journey
02:17 The Concept of Slow Style
02:54 Navigating Interior Design Challenges
06:37 Creating a Vision for Your Space
19:25 Balancing Sentimentality and Practicality
22:09 The Impact of Disposable Decor
26:18 The Emotional Weight of Objects
26:51 Struggles with Waste and Disposal
30:29 Decluttering Strategies and Challenges
37:18 The Concept of a Slow Home
40:04 Balancing Organization and Livability
46:56 The Importance of Good Dirt
49:17 Final Thoughts and Resources
Zandra's Website
Slow Style Home Podcast
Peter Walsh: Let it Go
Tracy McCubbin: Making Space, Clutter Free
Monica Leed: Simply Spaced
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🌻 About Lady Farmer:
Subscribe to The ALMANAC, a Lady Farmer Newsletter & Community
Visit Our Website
Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram
Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!
Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.
🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:
• Wendy Gray
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58:03
218. Mulch Matters: Fostering Community and Connection with Tree Recycling
In this conversation, Casey and Brooke Oberg from Detroit Mulch Company share their journey of transforming tree waste into mulch in the urban landscape of Detroit. They discuss their backgrounds, how they came to the project, various types of mulch, the significance of topsoil and the role of composting in community engagement. The conversation highlights the community impact of their work repurposing organic materials into beneficial mulch, a product that provides environmental sustainability and circularity into the local economy. The discussion also touches on the concept of slow living and how it relates to their work, culminating in a reflection on the meaning of good dirt and its impact on the environment and local communities.
Topics Discussed:
・The beginnings of Detroit Mulch Company
・Sustainable practices in Mulching
・Benefits of Mulch Gardening
・Addressing concerns about tree waste
・Community Impact
・The role of mulch in urban revitalization
・The future of tree waste management
・Encouraging sustainable practices beyond Detroit
・The importance of mulch and compost for top soil
・Composting practices and community engagement
・Embracing slow living and the idea of 'the good dirt'
Connect with Brooke and Casey:
Detroit Mulch Company Website
Instagram: @detroitmulch
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🌻 About Lady Farmer:
Subscribe to The ALMANAC, a Lady Farmer Newsletter & Community
Visit Our Website
Follow @weareladyfarmer on Instagram
Email us at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail! Call 443-459-1950 and ask a question or share what the good dirt means to you!
Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Fast Forward Production.
🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:
• Wendy Gray
Start living more sustainably. The Good Dirt podcast explores all aspects of a sustainable lifestyle with healthy soil as the touchpoint and metaphor for the healing of our relationship with the planet. Mother and daughter team Mary & Emma bring you weekly interviews with farmers, artists, authors, and leaders in the regenerative and sustainable living space.
Listen to The Good Dirt: Sustainability Explained, Feed Room Chemist: An Equine Nutrition Podcast and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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